BLAST and Format

            I have made observations of the short-lived Modernist Magazine BLAST by using Robert Scholes and Clifford Wulfman’s sixth point of observation in their article “How to Study a Modern Magazine”, which is “Format”. In addition to observing dimensions, page numbers, and visual material of the magazine, Scholes and Wulfman also suggests to make observations of how these aspects change over time, or from issue to issue. Because BLAST lasted for only two issues, it was easy to see some of the most striking changes in the magazine. The changes in format between issues 1 and 2 of BLAST are quite drastic given the short lifetime of the magazine from 1914-1915. As we talked about in class, the start of World War I may have had a lot to do with the content of the magazine, but may have also had an impact on the decisions made while formatting the magazine.

The dimensions of BLAST can be compared to the dimensions of a contemporary magazine we might come across today. Issue 1 of BLAST has 212 pages while Issue 2 has only 112. In both issues, however, the page count could have easily been reduced by eliminating or utilizing blank space. The images in this magazine have their own individual pages, even if the size of the image takes up less than half of the space on the page. Each image page is followed by a completely blank page, and each section is separated by a blank page.

The artwork intersects some stories and sections of poetry, but seem to have little to do with the stories and poems themselves. The images represent the type of art the Vorticism movement would have been interested in or approving of. The images are in black and white and appear as though they were prints of the original drawings or paintings. The only color used in the magazine is on the cover of Issue 1, which is shocking pink with the title BLAST seemingly stamped on it in bold, black letters. Although Issue 2 lacks the bright pink flare of the first issue, the pink color seems to be replaced with one of Wyndham Lewis’ drawings to illustrate the magazine’s affinity for Vorticism with their Cubist and Imagist foundations.